Toyota

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Toyota, GM Working on Super-Cheap Models, Too

India's $2,500 Tata has market leaders playing catch-up

(Newser) - Work on the world's cheapest cars is underway at the world's biggest car companies, the Associated Press reports. Toyota and GM announced this week at Detroit's North American International Auto show they are working on inexpensive subcompacts similar to India's Tata Motors' $2,500 car and aimed at emerging markets....

Toyota Joins GM in Race for 2010 Plug-In Hybrids

Drivers could recharge cars with normal socket

(Newser) - Toyota, the world's leader in hybrid vehicle production, has geared up to deliver by 2010 a gas-electric hybrid car whose batteries will recharge from a normal electrical socket. With the announcement yesterday at the Detroit auto show, Toyota pits itself against General Motors, which has also pledged a plug-in hybrid...

Battery Is Burning Issue for Electric Cars' Future

Manufacturers racing to make batteries that won't burst into flame

(Newser) - One main obstacle is holding back the electric car, the Wall Street Journal reports: its unfortunate tendency to burst into flames. Lithium-ion batteries, the only kind small and light enough to power the industry’s designs, have a history of overheating in laptops and other consumer electronics. You can’t...

Toyota Poised to Overtake GM
Toyota Poised to Overtake GM

Toyota Poised to Overtake GM

Plans to build 9.95 million vehicles, widen lead as largest automaker

(Newser) - Toyota, the most profitable automaker in the world, says it will increase production by 5% to a record 9.95 million vehicles in 2008, opening up a lead over General Motors, Reuters reports. Toyota, which sold 9.36 million vehicles in 2007, also expects sales to increase 5% in 2008...

Robots Could Care for Elderly
Robots Could Care for Elderly

Robots Could Care for Elderly

Toyota unveils new technology aimed at targeting Japan's aging population

(Newser) - Toyota’s new robot can play the violin, and the car-maker hopes it could be used in the future to care for the elderly, AFP reports. The 5-foot-tall robot has 17 hand and arm joints, giving it enough dexterity to play an error-free “Pomp and Circumstance” today. Toyota wants...

Nov. Sales Languish for Big 3
Nov. Sales Languish for Big 3

Nov. Sales Languish for Big 3

Ford and GM announce production cuts as US sales slump continues

(Newser) - Ford and GM will join Chrysler in cutting production in early 2008, reports the Wall Street Journal today, following sluggish November sales and anticipated weak demand driven by continued economic fallout. Only Ford saw a modest 0.6% improvement in US sales last month, while GM sales were down 11%...

Japan to Pay Widow After Husband Dies of Overwork

Toyota employee on constant overtime

(Newser) - A Japanese court ruled today that the government must pay damages to the widow of a white-collar employee at Toyota who died from overwork, the AP reports. Kenichi Uchino had put in more than 80 hours of overtime per month for at least half a year before collapsing in his...

Toyota Drives Home the Green Point
Toyota Drives Home the Green Point

Toyota Drives Home the Green Point

Catching flak for opposing tighter fuel standards, car giant polishes eco-cred

(Newser) - Toyota is rolling out a big PR campaign that stresses its green credentials—under attack now that the car giant has teamed up with Detroit to fight tighter fuel standards. A new ad shows a Prius being built out of sticks in a meadow, and the company crows over its...

Toyota Unveils Driving Simulator
Toyota Unveils Driving Simulator

Toyota Unveils Driving Simulator

Huge dome rocks and rolls on rails

(Newser) - Toyota today unveiled its new driving simulator, a 7-meter-across dome with 360-degree imaging that mimics the experience of real driving by rocking on a rail. Toyota will use the simulator to test safety features without endangering drivers, see how tiredness and intoxication affect driving, and develop safety features for specific...

Toyota: Not Easy Seeming Green
Toyota: Not Easy Seeming Green

Toyota: Not Easy Seeming Green

Green activists turn against Toyota over opposition to fuel economy laws

(Newser) - Toyota set a new green standard ten years ago with its ahead-of-its-time Prius hybrid and projects an image of environmental responsibility. But now the green community is using Toyota for target practice, Newsweek reports. The Japanese carzilla is generating fury with its new low 14 mpg Tundra and Sequoia models,...

Toyota Explores Plug-in Prius
Toyota Explores Plug-in Prius

Toyota Explores Plug-in Prius

All-electric version of hot-selling car could be only a few years away

(Newser) - Toyota is launching a three-year study of US consumer demand for a new version of the popular Prius that could run exclusively on electric power and be recharged in a standard electric socket. Toyota may yet beat rival General Motors to market—GM has set a 2010 target date for...

Toyota Loses Quality Grade
Toyota Loses Quality Grade

Toyota Loses Quality Grade

Mag denies carmaker rubber stamp as Ford, US cars close reliability gap

(Newser) - Consumer Reports' annual reliability survey won't rubber stamp Toyotas with a high grade anymore, the Wall Street Journal reports. Recent low marks for the Camry V-6 and Tundra V-8 have robbed the carmaker of its automatic okay, while Ford and other US firms are closing the reliability gap. Toyota's other...

Pay Cuts Will Affect 25% of GM Workforce

New 'non-core' classification nearly halves $51/hour pay

(Newser) - UAW’s new contract with GM will mean lower wages for a quarter of union employees, Bloomberg reports. The 16,766 jobs labeled “non-core” in the deal would drop to $28 an hour, down from $51 an hour. “This is the beginning of the end of the well-paid...

Dow Dips on Monday Overreach
Dow Dips on Monday Overreach

Dow Dips on Monday Overreach

A rough housing report doesn’t help

(Newser) - The market was mostly down today, after investors corrected for yesterday’s record-breaking spike, and a new drop in a home-sales index stirred mortgage anxieties. The Dow dipped 40.24 points to 14,047.31, with one strategist telling MarketWatch, “The fundamental news didn’t warrant the rally.”...

10 Cheapest Rides to Own
10 Cheapest Rides to Own

10 Cheapest Rides to Own

Don't sacrifice your bank account to the wheel with gas and insurance costs

(Newser) - Affordable cars start at the sticker price—the lower the better. But over time, insurance payments and gas costs add up. Forbes searches out the 10 vehicles that will leave the smallest footprint on your wallet.
  1. Toyota Yaris
  2. Honda Fit
  3. Toyota Corolla

Chrysler Pilfers Toyota's Top US Executive

Firm's highest-ranking non-Japanese ever jumps ship

(Newser) - Toyota North America's president will become the new co-president and vice chairman of Chrysler, the Detroit Free Press reports. Jim Press, the highest-ranking non-Japanese exec in Toyota's history, brings a reputation as a talented manager to Chrysler, which is in the process of transforming into a private company after being...

GM Scores With Crossovers
GM Scores With Crossovers

GM Scores With Crossovers

New models steering customers back onto American lots in droves

(Newser) - In its fierce battle with Asian automakers to reclaim the hearts and keys of American drivers, GM has three reasons to celebrate: the Buick Enclave, GMC Acadia, and Saturn Outlook. The company’s crossover vehicles combine the look of an SUV with the higher fuel economy of a sedan—and...

Gibbs Eyes Switch to Toyota
Gibbs Eyes Switch to Toyota

Gibbs Eyes Switch to Toyota

NASCAR team will leave GM after 16 years

(Newser) - Joe Gibbs Racing is in talks to move to Toyota Motorsports after 16 years and three series championships with General Motors, ESPN reports. The announcement is expected to come Wednesday morning at a press conference that could include Gibbs team drivers Tony Stewart and Denny Hamlin. Neither Toyota nor GM...

Honda Hybrids Dying to Catch Up with Prius

Toyota's green car stands out as more enviro-friendly

(Newser) - Honda rolled out America's first hybrids a few years ago, but now they're scrambling to reclaim the roads after Toyota out-greened them with the enviro-hip Prius. What happened? Honda’s stylin’ was so “Civic” that nobody knew their drivers were commuting to save the world. If you can't show...

Asian Traders Sweat New Dive
Asian Traders Sweat New Dive

Asian Traders Sweat New Dive

Fourth day of losses hits markets

(Newser) - Despite a late Wall Street rally yesterday, Asian stocks plummeted for the fourth day in a row—driven as much by panic as by any other factor. Toyota, Canon and Mitsubishi all slipped badly, along with the Morgan Stanley Capital International Asia-Pacific Index, which was off 1.8 percent, and...

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